Evoke names Susan Standiford as non-executive director
Standiford will also join the Audit and Risk Committee from the start of November.
UK.- Evoke PLC, the former 888 Holdings, has announced the appointment of Susan Standiford as a new non-executive director from the start of November. She will also join the group’s Audit and Risk Committee.
Standiford is currently a non-executive director at Stibo Software Group, which provides software for data management, media and publishers, and the AI 3D character creation company Didimo. She has a BA from the University of Illinois and has experience as a mentor, advisor and angel investor to startups.
Evoke highlighted her 30 years of product, technology and managerial experience at the likes of Oracle, Disney and Travelocity. She has also served in leadership positions at StepStone, IKEA, Zeal Network and RueLaLa.
Evoke reported a loss of £143m for H1, up 300 per cent from a loss of £32m in 2023. The operator saw performance decline, particularly at the William Hill retail business in the UK.
Group revenue was in line with expectations at £862m, and online revenue rose 1 per cent year-on-year to £338m. However, William Hill retail revenue was down 7 per cent to £258m and online sports betting revenue was down 5.3 per cent despite Euro 2024. Adjusted EBITDA fell by double digits in all core segments, with UK brands seeing “lower than expected returns” from Q1 marketing and promotional activities.
Evoke to buy Winner.ro stake
Last month, Evoke announced that it will buy a 51 per cent stake in New Gambling Solutions (NGS) and its subsidiary, the Romanian gambling operator Winner.ro. London-listed Evoke, which owns William Hill and Mr Green, will put its existing Romanian operations and a debt-free cash consideration of €10m into NGS and will have an option to take 100 per cent ownership on the third-year anniversary of the deal.
Winner.ro was launched in 2019 and now has 20,000 retail deposit points. It generated gross gambling revenue of €19m in the first half of this year. Evoke said that together 888.ro and Winner.ro will have a market share of around 7 per cent. Nicklas Zajdel, CEO of Winner.ro, will lead the combined business and Winner.ro’s 80 staff will join Evoke’s team of 500 in Romania.
